Samsung ratchets down patent offensive against Apple

The company is withdrawing its requests for injunctions against the iPhone maker’s products in five countries, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The move was done “in the interest of protecting consumer choice,” the company said in a statement.

“Samsung remains committed to licensing our technologies on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms, and we strongly believe it is better when companies compete fairly in the marketplace, rather than in court,” the company said in the statement.

The move affects Samsung’s patent cases in France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Italy and the Netherlands. It comes a day after a judge in San Francisco denied Apple’s attempt to ban sales of Samsung products that were found to be violating Apple’s intellectual property.

To be sure, Samsung is not raising the white flag. It said it will continue its patent lawsuits against Apple in Europe, even though it’s withdrawing its demand for injunctions in certain countries.